Donovan, Gerard 1959–

PERSONAL:

Born 1959, in Wexford, Ireland. Education: University of Arkansas, B.A., 1993, M.F.A; graduated from Johns Hopkins University.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Department of English, Eastern Illinois University, 600 Lincoln Ave., 3762 Coleman, Charleston, IL 61920. E-mail—gadonovan@eiu.edu.

CAREER:

Professional guitarist during the 1980s; Southampton College, Long Island University, Southampton, NY, professor of graduate and undergraduate writing; Suffolk County Community College, Riverhead, NY, professor; Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL, instructor in writing, 2007—. Has also taught at the Bread Loaf Writers Conference, 2000, and at the New England Young Writers' Conference. Represented Ireland at the European First Novel Festival.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Man Booker Prize long list, 2003, and Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award, Listowel Writers' Week, 2004, both for Schopenhauer's Telescope.

WRITINGS:

NOVELS

Schopenhauer's Telescope, Counterpoint (New York, NY), 2003.

Doctor Salt, Scribner (London, England), 2005.

Julius Winsome: A Novel, Overlook Press (Woodstock, NY), 2006.

Sunless, Overlook Press (Woodstock, NY), 2007.

POETRY

Columbus Rides Again, Salmon Publishing (Cliffs of Moher, Ireland), 1992.

Kings and Bicycles, Salmon Publishing (Cliffs of Moher, Ireland), 1995.

The Lighthouse, Salmon Publishing (Cliffs of Moher, Ireland), 2000.

SHORT STORIES

Young Irelanders, Overlook Press (Woodstock, NY), 2008.

Country of the Grand, Faber & Faber (London, England), 2008.

Contributor of short stories to anthologies, including The Faber Book of Best New Irish Short Stories, Faber & Faber (London, England), 2007. Contributor of poetry to periodicals, including Sewanee Review, New Statesman, Stand, and the Irish Times.

SIDELIGHTS:

Poet, novelist, and short story writer Gerard Donovan is the author of such critically acclaimed works as The Lighthouse, Julius Winsome: A Novel, and Young Irelanders. Born and raised in Ireland, Donovan pursued his postsecondary education in the United States, enrolling in writing programs at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. His first published books were collections of poetry, including Columbus Rides Again and Kings and Bicycles. The Lighthouse, a 2000 work, was nominated for the Irish Times Literature Prize.

Schopenhauer's Telescope, Donovan's first novel, earned him a place on the long and short lists of several major awards, including the Man Booker Prize for Fiction and the Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award. The novel takes an abstract look at human character in times of war as it follows the dialogue between one man forced to dig a grave-sized hole and another who is charged to watch over him. A Publishers Weekly contributor described Schopenhauer's Telescope as "sophisticated and innovative," and Donovan as "an inventive and thoughtful writer." Mark Tursi commented in the Review of Contemporary Fiction that "Gerard Donovan's debut novel intertwines dense philosophical ruminations with simple conversational dialogue," and Booklist contributor Frank Sennett remarked on how "Donovan employs the conventions of narrative to craft a stunning lesson."

Donovan's second novel, Doctor Salt, is more direct in its social commentary as it denounces the pharmaceutical giants for inventing syndromes-of-the-day as a means of pushing trendy new drugs. Sam Thompson, a reviewer for the Guardian, described the book as "poignant and comical," and Stephanie Merritt, a contributor to the Observer Online remarked: "Donovan's prose is spare, yet he is capable of memorable descriptions." Ranti Williams concluded in a London Telegraph Online review: "This challenging and beautifully written book is sinister, sad and bleakly humorous."

In Julius Winsome, Donovan "shows how violence can infect and take over a person's life," noted a reviewer in Publishers Weekly. The title character, a self-sufficient, fifty-one-year-old man, lives in a cabin deep in the woods of Maine with only his loyal dog, Hobbes, for companionship and a collection of more than 3,000 books to satisfy his intellect. When Julius discovers that Hobbes has been randomly and brutally killed by a shotgun blast, he is determined to seek revenge. "Donovan's narrative, channelled through Julius's own benumbed perspective, avoids melodrama and facile psychology," noted Guardian critic Michel Faber. "Instead, we have no choice but to stand by, appalled and fascinated, as Julius (a crack shot with his grandfather's rifle) embarks on a spree of random revenge, murdering [deer hunters] with calm efficiency." Library Journal contributor Patrick Sullivan stated that "Winsome is a complex and powerfully realized fictional creation," and Frank Sennett, in a review for Booklist, remarked that the protagonist "exerts a strong pull on the imagination's darker corners."

Like Doctor Salt, Donovan's fourth novel, Sunless examines the relationship between politics and the pharmaceutical industry. In an interview with Jessa Crispin for the Critical Mass Web site, Donovan remarked that Sunless "suggests how drug companies essentially invent disorders in order to sell drugs to cure them, and how this practice reflects a wider willingnes[s] on the part of people to believe what they are told and what they are sold." After his baby brother is stillborn, Sunless, the story's narrator, watches his mother turn to prescription drugs to mask her pain. Sunless's father, who suffers from a terminal lung disease, is denied participation in a clinical trial at Pharmalak, a pharmaceutical company, due to his lack of health insurance; he dies later in the novel. As Sunless's life spirals out of control, he decides to become an experimental subject for Pharmalak under the care of Dr. Fargoon, who has developed a miracle drug called Elevax. According to a contributor to Kirkus Reviews, Donovan's "America is a place ruled by conformity and escapism, by religion, consumerism and dispassionate inhumanity." The Kirkus Reviews contributor concluded that Sunless is a "lyrically depressing vision of things to come."

Young Irelanders, Donovan's first collection of short fiction, was published in 2008. Featuring a number of interrelated tales set in Ireland, the work explores subjects such as adultery, history, and prosperity. In "Morning Swimmers," the opening tale, a man unleashes his anger on a pair of friends after overhearing their intimate and unflattering conversation about his marriage. "Another Life" concerns Mary Donnelly, a widow who discovers that her late husband had led a secret life, which included fathering a child. In "Archaeologists," the discovery of some ancient artifacts leads two professionals to reconsider their pasts. A critic for Kirkus Reviews stated that Young Irelanders consists of "quiet stories of place and displacement, of relationships and disruption" and praised these "gemlike stories that focus on contemporary issues in Ireland."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, June 1, 2003, Frank Sennett, review of Schopenhauer's Telescope, p. 1742; July 1, 2006, Frank Sennett, review of Julius Winsome: A Novel, p. 29.

Guardian (London, England), January 29, 2005, Sam Thompson, "Staring at the Sunless," review of Doctor Salt, p. 26; June 16, 2007, Michel Faber, "Thrill of the Hunt," review of Julius Winsome.

Kirkus Reviews, July 1, 2006, review of Julius Winsome, p. 646; August 1, 2007, review of Sunless; May 15, 2008, review of Young Irelanders.

Library Journal, July 1, 2006, Patrick Sullivan, review of Julius Winsome, p. 64.

People Weekly, November 20, 2006, Allison Lynn, review of Julius Winsome, p. 53.

Publishers Weekly, May 5, 2003, review of Schopenhauer's Telescope, p. 195; August 14, 2006, review of Julius Winsome, p. 181; August 13, 2007, review of Sunless, p. 45.

Review of Contemporary Fiction, fall, 2003, Mark Tursi, review of Schopenhauer's Telescope, p. 136.

ONLINE

Agora, http://www.eiu.edu/~agora/ (February, 2008), Daiva Markelis, "A Conversation with Gerard Donovan."

Blurb, http://www.theblurb.com.au/ (February, 2008), John Self, "Lone Wolf," review of Julius Winsome.

Critical Mass Web log, http://bookcriticscircle.blogspot.com/ (August 7, 2007), Jessa Crispin, "One Question for Gerard Donovan," interview with the author.

Eastern Illinois University Web site, http://www.eiu.edu/ (July 1, 2008), "Gerard Donovan," author faculty profile.

Euro Crime, http://www.eurocrime.co.uk/ (October, 2007), Declan Burke, "Lone Wolf," review of Julius Winsome.

New Zealand Listener Online, http://www.listener.co.nz/ (September 1-7, 2007), Nicholas Reid, "Nasty, Brutish and Short," review of Julius Winsome.

Observer Online (London, England), http://www.observer.co.uk/ (January 9, 2005), Stephanie Merritt, "Pinch of Salt," review of Doctor Salt.

Telegraph Online, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/ (February 5, 2006), Ranti Williams, review of Doctor Salt.

Timeout Chicago, http://www.timeout.com/chicago/ (July 1, 2008), Jonathan Messinger, "The Hunter Is a Lonely Heart: A Man Takes Revenge into His Own Hands in a New, Heartbreaking Novel," review of Julius Winsome.